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Programs Determine the Nature of Cyber-threats

Monday - 12/27/2010, 11:11am EST

Self-proclaimed "technogeeks" at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, after determining the nature of the cybersecurity threat, have created programs to tackle them and, most importantly they say, surprise would-be cyber crooks.

Officials at DARPA say the agency's sole mission since its inception in 1958 has been to prevent technological surprises. Two of the agency's recent cybersecurity programs, called CRASH and PROCEED, were created for that purpose.

CRASH - the Clean-slate Design of Resilient, Adaptive, Secure Hosts program - seeks to build new computer systems that resist cyberattacks. After successful attacks they learn from the attack, adapt and repair themselves. The program evolved from a workshop DARPA held earlier this year that pulled together experts in cybersecurity and operating-system as well as infectious-disease biologists.